Automated banking machines are well known. A common type of automated banking machine used by consumers is an automated teller machine (“ATM”). ATMs enable customers to carry out banking transactions. Common banking transactions that may be carried out with ATMs include the dispensing of cash, the making of deposits, the transfer of funds between accounts, the payment of bills and account balance inquiries. The types of banking transactions a customer can carry out are determined by the capabilities of the particular banking machine and the programming of the institution operating the machine. Other types of automated banking machines may allow customers to charge against accounts or to transfer funds. Other types of automated banking machines may print or dispense items of value such as coupons, tickets, wagering slips, vouchers, checks, food stamps, money orders, scrip or traveler's checks. For purposes of this disclosure an ATM, an automated banking machine, or an automated transaction machine shall encompass any device which carries out transactions including transfers of value.
ATMs may be operative to output a plurality of user interface screens through a display device of the ATM. Such user interfaces may include text, graphics, and other user interface objects which provide interactive menus for operating the ATM. The user interfaces may further include advertising or promotional messages and other visual or audible outputs. ATMs may be used with external configuration editing systems and mechanisms which enable an owner and/or operator of the ATM to customize the user interfaces provided by the ATM. Such configuration editing systems may enable the owner and/or operator of the ATM to change the user interface screens and other configuration parameters of the ATM.
The level of configurability of the ATM is often limited to the specific set of features which are allowed to be customized by the configuration editing systems provided for the ATM by the ATM manufacturer. Such customizations may include changing the appearance of the ATM user interface screens, changing states through which the user interface of the ATM progresses, changing timers, and changing the Financial Institution Table (FIT) information. Unfortunately, the owner and/or operator of the ATM is often forced to live with the initial level of configurability of an ATM until such time as the manufacturer of the ATM releases an updated version of the ATM configuration editing software. The time between releases of ATM configuration editing software by the manufacture of the ATM may be several months or longer. Consequently, there exists a need for a method of updating configuration editing software for use with an ATM, which enables the configuration editing software to be updated or customized to suit the specific needs of the owner and/or operator of the ATM.